Fenders are desirably configured to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by a rotating wheel. To maintain desirable deterrence of wayward road spray, a fender must generally maintain its original shape and its original position relative to the wheel.
Conventional fenders rely on one or more braces or struts to control the shape of the fender (e.g., prevent permanent deformation and breakage of the fender), and/or to aid in the prevention or reduction of undesirably excessive fore-and-aft motion and/or side-to-side motion of the fender relative to the wheel, fork assembly, and/or frame of a cycling apparatus. Such braces or struts generally extend from one or both of the spaced apart blades of a fork assembly, respectively. In particular, each brace is often an elongated member that has a first end that is coupled to one of the spaced apart blades of a fork assembly, and a second end that is coupled to a side or a side edge of the fender.
However, while such braces or struts can adequately control the shape of a fender and/or may reduce or prevent undesirable fore-and-aft motion and/or side-to-side motion for some duration of time, these types of braces or struts add to the total number of components in a fender assembly, which increases the fender assembly's overall complexity. Accordingly, braces and struts undesirably increase the total number of components to be repaired or replaced when a fender assembly component is damaged. Moreover, braces and struts also undesirably increase the time required to repair and/or replace a fender assembly.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a fender that can be coupled or otherwise attached to a fork assembly without one or more braces or struts that extend from one or more blades of the fork assembly. In particular, it may be desirable to provide a fender that can be coupled or otherwise attached to a fork assembly without one or more braces or struts as described above, and also control its shape (e.g., prevent permanent deformation and breakage of the fender). Additionally, it may be desirable to provide a fender that can be coupled or otherwise attached to a fork assembly also in a manner that reduces or prevents undesirable fore-and-aft motion and/or side-to-side motion of the fender relative to the wheel, fork assembly, and/or frame of a cycling apparatus. Further, it may be desirable to provide a fender assembly that minimizes the number of components to be manipulated during repair and/or replacement of a fender to decrease time and improve efficiency during such repair and/or replacement.